A number of outlets recently visited the set of
Spider-Man: Far From Home in London, England and the subject of The Daily Bugle quickly came up. The newspaper and its publisher J. Jonah Jameson have been absent from the big screen since 2007, and while there were hints in
The Amazing Spider-Man movies, we've yet to see a new take on that iconic Marvel landmark.
It could be because a teenager working for a New York newspaper as a photographer is totally unrealistic these days, or simply because no one wants to follow in the footsteps of J.K. Simmons' amazing performance, but whatever the answer may be, it's about time we see the Bugle in the MCU.
Well, according to
Spider-Man: Far From Home executive producer Eric Hauserman Carroll, they do have some ideas about how to make that happen and it could be as soon as later this year!
"Yes, we’ve absolutely talked and thought about those characters a lot, specifically in reference to this film. What we just want to make sure we’re [presenting] them in a way that doesn’t make you feel instantly like you’ve seen them before. So we have a couple of ideas, some of which I can’t really go into detail because they’re spoilery, but it’s absolutely – if we had an 'in for the Daily Bugle that wasn’t just your traditional newspaper and [with] Peter Parker, there’s this cool, weird thing happening where being a photographer isn’t necessarily a mark of distinction anymore. We all have better cameras in our pockets than most people even owned ten years ago. So how do we get Peter or somebody into that world without it feeling like, do kids really aspire to go be photographers for The New York Times anymore? Or do they aspire to have their tweet reposted, and so on.
"So we’re trying to pay as much homage to the source material as possible, and we do think there are a couple of fun ideas like that in here, most of which I don’t want to spell out for you, but absolutely. We want to take as much of the mythology that people love and present it in a way that’s totally faithful to what people love about it, but in a [different] way."
When one journalist asked him if it was fair to say we won't see the Bugle and Jameson in Far From Home, he replied "No," which may go some way to confirming those rumours that J.B. Smoove is playing a new take on the character.
We'll have to wait and see, but in the meantime Sony Pictures has also released two new behind-the-scenes images from a set that was created to look like Venice, Italy.
Hit the "View List" button for an in-depth Spider-Man:
Far From Home interview with director Jon Watts!
How Far After The Event Of Avengers: Endgame Is The Movie Set?
Yesterday's trailer finally confirmed that, yes,
Spider-Man: Far From Home does indeed take place after the events of
Avengers: Endgame. However, we've heard conflicting reports about just how much time will have passed. Is it minutes, hours, days, or more?
"We don't say specifically how far after, but the idea is that it's almost immediately after the events of Endgame," Watts confirms. "So we get to see the neighborhood from the first movie dealing with the implications of all of the crazy fallout of Endgame. And, you know, in classic New York style, everyone is just moving on and getting on with their daily lives. Ya know, half the people that disappeared are now back, so let's move on. [laughs]"
Is that an indication that the movie will mostly just brush over the five-year time jump?!
Does The Movie Really Introduce The Marvel Multiverse?
The trailer reveals that Mysterio is from another Earth and that the Snap ripped a hole in reality (are we sure it wasn't The Avengers travelling through time?). However, does
Far From Home really introduce the Multiverse or is "Mr. Beck" trolling Spider-Man
and those of us in the audience?
"Well, I mean, yeah," Watts claims.
"We had to look at it in terms of the scope of what happened at the end of Endgame. Seeing all the crazy things that they did and all the questions that raises. So we're definitely trying to answer one of the big ones -- alternate timelines. So many possibilities opened up at the end of Endgame, and Peter Parker is one of the few people on the ground dealing with them."
As for whether he could explain the rules the MCU's Multiverse, Watts would only say, "I wouldn't dare! I'll let Nick Fury do that."
Why Is Nick Fury Trying To Recruit Spider-Man?
After being inspired by Captain Marvel, Nick Fury created The Avengers Initiative and brought together Earth's Mightiest Heroes to tackle threats too big for the rest of us. Now, it sounds like he might be trying to do the same thing in a world he's been absent from for the past five years.
"Well, that was what was very exciting to me because this is a version of Nick Fury I don't think we've ever seen, which is a Nick Fury who is playing catch-up," the filmmaker explains. "He disappeared for five years and the world changed dramatically in his absence, and here he is trying to put together a new team."
"Spider-Man and Mysterio are being recruited to tackle this threat of the Elementals," he continues. "That's what Nick Fury does, but now things are crazier than usual."
Who Is Mysterio And What Are The Elementals?
Quentin Beck is a villain in the comic books and a well-known con-man but this big screen version has clearly gone through some major changes. Asked who Mysterio is and what his agenda is when we first meet him, Watts replies:
"In the film, it's similar to the trailer, he is introduced as a potential ally to fight off this elemental threat."
As for those Elementals, just like most of us suspected, they're from the same world as Beck.
"They're both from the same sort of parallel dimension, yeah," the filmmaker adds.
What Happened To Aunt May Following The Snap?
Spider-Man ended up being dusted alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy on Titan so has his Aunt May spent the past five years not knowing what became of her nephew? Well, in a bid to make things a little more straightforward, Watts confirms that May was actually one of the Mad Titan's victims back on Earth.
"She disappeared and came back," he confirms when asked about her fate.
Are The Criminals In The Trailer Working For The Kingpin?
At the start of the
Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer, the Iron Spider can be seen taking on some heavily armed goons and, well, they look a lot more serious than the Bodega Bandits from the first film. So, is it possible that they're tied to someone like Wilson Fisk?
"Well, I don't want to say too much, but I will say they're not specifically tied to Kingpin in this movie," Watts confirms.
"But you do get to see what it's like now for Spider-Man to be a very confident and friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. I feel like he's got the neighborhood under control."
Is Miles Morales Going To Be Introduced In The Movie?
Donald Glover's Aaron Davis mentions his nephew Miles in
Spider-Man: Homecoming and now that five years have passed, he might just be the right age to become a superhero...right?
"There is no Miles in this film, or at least not yet," Watts reveals when asked about the character's big screen future.
"But who knows... we edit these films down to the last second, so you never know."
How Does Far From Home Address The Fallout From Endgame?
"I've always seen Spider-Man as the most relatable superhero for that reason," Watts says when asked about how
Spider-Man: Homecoming offered a more personal look at the MCU.
"I used Peter Parker/Spider-Man as an opportunity to get that ground-level perspective to show you what it would look like if all these crazy things had happened. What would day-to-day life be? If you were snapped away, you'd have to work backwards and retake your midterms."
"That was one of the most fun things," he continues,
"just talking through what the most mundane implications would be. Like, your birthday on your driver's license or passport would say that you are five years older than you technically are. Those sorts of questions are just so fascinating to me, and I really wanted to get into the minutiae of it and really explore that."
What Is Happy Hogan's Role In The Movie?
Happy Hogan is clearly going to play a large role in proceedings moving forward but beyond what we've seen in the trailers, what should we expect from Tony Stark's old friend in this movie?
"Similar to Peter, who lost his mentor in Tony... you know, Happy has been there since the very beginning. I think a big part of this story is trying to find your place in the world if the center of your world is gone. I've always liked Happy as a character, and to use him to explore some of these things was really exciting. To explore a world without Tony, who was the man that created Iron Man."
Will The Vulture Return?
Since the start, reliable sources have claimed that Michael Keaton will reprise his role as The Vulture in
Spider-Man: Far From Home, something which has led to a lot of speculation about the formation of the Sinister Six. Unfortunately, it sounds like neither he nor Liz (Laura Harrier) will appear.
"Keaton is not in the movie, and Laura is not in the movie," Watts states, shooting down those rumours.
Will The Action Be Bigger In Scale This Time?
Spider-Man: Homecoming didn't hold back in terms of action but Peter Parker was very inexperienced and things were relatively small in scale. So, how will things change this time around?
"[In] terms of a pure filmmaking level, I really wanted to turn up the action and make that huge," the director reveals.
"In the last movie, we kept things a little bit smaller, intentionally, to remind people why they love Spider-Man. And without changing the tone, I wanted to keep that ground-level relatability, but also turn up the level of action to create something really spectacular. I wanted to show people things that they've never seen before at the movies."
Is Spider-Man Trying To Fill The Void Iron Man Left?
One of the biggest themes in the new trailer is Peter Parker's attempt to fill the void that's been left by Iron Man's death. The question is, can he really take Iron Man's place in the MCU?
"Now, the world is asking him to step up, and he's not sure whether he's ready for that level of responsibility," Watts explains.
"Like, he's still a 16-year-old kid from Queens. It's something I can relate, too. I remember being a kid and you desparately want to be treated as an adult. But then suddenly you're treated as an adult, and suddenly you realize that maybe it was better back when I was being treated as a kid. Once you cross that threshold, there's no going back."
Will Characters From Homecoming Be Five Years Older?
While it appears as if most of Peter Parker's classmates were dusted by Thanos, surely some of the characters we met last time will no be five years older? Well, Watts confirms that will be the case in the sequel but doesn't name names.
"Yeah, that's one of the fun things that we get to play with -- the sort of real-world, ground-level implications of something like that. You don't get to see any of the fallout in Endgame, and we get to explore that in our movie. It's really interesting and fun."
Is There More To The Movie Than The Trailers Let On?
Heading into
Captain Marvel, we all thought that the Skrulls would be the movie's villains but the reality was much different. Asked if the there's more to the wall-crawler's latest adventure than meets the eye, the director says:
"You know, for a trailer that has a lot of stuff in it, it's just really scratching the surface." We'll just have to wait and see what he means by that...